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Anderson Cooper, Santa Claus

When Regis Philbin left his long-running show last month, his last appearance and the star-studded parade of temporary co-hosts for Kelly Ripa propelled Live! to a ratings bonanza for November sweeps, although Dr. Phil remained the ratings winner for the season. Because of his departure, I got to thinking about traditions, and how we fill the void when they change or are taken away from us - at least in terms of afternoon syndicated talk shows.

There are traditions, and then there are institutions. Somewhere between the two was the penultimate holiday shopping kickoff: Oprah's Favorite Things. How is America coping with its first gift-giving season in nearly a decade without the illustrious hostess telling it what friends and family really want?

Beginning in 2002 and ending in 2010, with two editions last November to underscore the finality of the show, Oprah's Favorite Things typically aired a week before Thanksgiving. Therefore, it might have been more timely to write about this last month. And, really, Oprah continues to offer her favorite things list in her magazine, O. However, these extra few weeks have given us an opportunity to look at who's trying what to fill Oprah's gift-giving shoes on television:

Anderson Cooper jumped right into the game on November 14th, on his aptly named new talk show Anderson, with a nod toward the recession (or whatever we're calling it this month). 'Stop Spending and Start Saving' was the name of the episode, featuring money-saving tips from experts and how to get free stuff every day. 'Anderson's First Holiday Show' episode airs today, when he will purportedly make dreams come true for those in need.

Ellen's 'Twelve Days of Giveaways,' featured on the Ellen DeGeneres Show earlier this month, gave audience members her gift picks for each of - you guessed it - twelve days. Also, the show gave the same gifts to lucky, random home viewers who became eligible by Tweeting, Facebooking, or writing to the show.

Dr. Oz had '12 Days of Christmas: Hottest Holiday Health Gifts', along with plenty of segments about healthy recipes and exercise tips for the holidays.

Dr. Phil has had share of Christmas bonanza specials in the past (some might remember Dr. Phil & Robin's Christmas Special, featuring every celebrity and gadget they could cram into an hour), but now that the doc is a daily staple, he's got 'Happy, Healthy, & Hot for the Holidays.' These episodes ran sparingly, but featured a diet plan, in which the doctor might or might not be invested. Lucky audience members received free kits.

So who is the new leader in holiday purchasing influence? Tough to say. There's no shortage of people trying to win gifts on these shows - even a cursory glance at their websites will show hundreds of people posting tough-luck cases in the hopes of being picked. Syndicators know that viewers don't just hope for freebies - they will buy the featured items - so the industry will never stop partnering with manufacturers. The Syndicated Television Network Association publishes studies that show just how much these talk shows influence consumers to buy certain items during the holiday season.

Here's the "bah, humbug" about these holiday-themed giveaways: none of them give the impression that the gifts were hand-picked and lovingly tested by their host/hostess, like it appeared with Oprah. Most of us have no illusions that Oprah has ever used a panini press, but her show and its producers give the impression that she would know what it was if we could get through her phalanx of bodyguards and ask her. Ellen is on the right track, but she would not be Ellen if she didn't look a little befuddled upon finding some red widgets at the bottom of a basket of green ones - someday she'll be just as good at convincing us that this was not the first time she'd seen those widgets.

No doubt this is all part of the brilliance of Oprah's empire: let her doctor shows promote healthy products and lifestyles during the holidays, so as not to step on her highness's 'Favorite Things' off the air. Telepictures, the Warner Bros. division that produces The Ellen DeGeneres Show, might be doing the same thing: letting its Dr. Drew's Lifechangers tackle the diets and head shrinking, letting Anderson handle the economic pulse of Christmas in America, and hoping that Ellen becomes the new Oprah of gift ideas.